Operation: Kamek
tf - Wednesday, May 14, 2014, 7:03 PM OOC NOTE: This had to be rushed a little, please bear in mind. Kudos to all involved though! ------------------------------------- The shuttle grumbles, "Lug you guys here. ship you there. Haul a big aft satellite relay there. I'm sick of it." Everyone's been listening to this spiel for an hour now, sitting all nice and cozy in the spaceous interior of Astrotrain. He's built for space after all, Devastator formed in here once! "Blast Off, you know what I mean right? I'm just saying that those of us who are haulers need to get at least a bit more energon in their ration. The good stuff too, not just the bargain basement stuff the grunts get. Where'd they be without us?" Soundwave has been erm...relaxing? maybe? by leaning against a wall. He's either had enough, or he just woke up. (Hint: Its the latter) "ENOUGH.....RUMBLE, EJECT!" He taps his tab on his shoulder, letting his chestplate open, popping out his own tiny god of war, Rumble. "WE WILL BRIEF THE SITUATION AT HAND." Again he taps his shoulderpad, "AUTOSCOUT, DEPLOY." The useless autoscout transforms as well, "ENGAGE HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGING, 22-1" And with that, Cybertron is displayed on holograms... Combat: Soundwave runs a diagnostic check on Airlift =[ Evaluation of Airlift ] Airlift is conscious and COMBAT-OK. Airlift is slightly wounded. Rumble flips out of Soundwave's chest in tape mode, transforming to robot mode by the time he lands on the shuttle's floor. Why he'd actually come along on this trip is anyone's guess, it's not like he actually needed to. Or knew what the mission was. In fact, he'd sorta just been there when everyone else started arriving. In point of fact, Airlift had been unconscious when he was offloaded from the shuttle back from the Gameshow Planet, set on the space dock, then loaded back onto the shuttle like a piece of the equipment. He's currently hunched with two right hands gripping his scythe, supporting part of his weight as he seems unconscious, wings folded around his form protectively and draped along the ground, his silence immense. Blast Off is sitting inside Astrotrain and, as always, it's weird being a shuttle sitting inside another one. But it IS kind of nice to FINALLY have another shuttle to talk to. He leans forward in his seat, looking up at one of Astrotrain's interior cameras. The Combaticon is, of course, making sure not to scuff the seat or make a mess of any kind as a courtesy to his fellow shuttle. He knows how much HE hates such a thing. "Oh, yes, I know *exactly* what you mean, Astrotrain! We should get far more respect than we do.. we *deserve* it! Planet-bound mechs have no idea the trouble we go through to ensure a smooth ride for our passengers, ensure the cargo is kept at an adequate temperature and not explosed to radiation, navigate safely through asteroid fields..." He goes on and on... just barely noticing the holographic Cybertron. He is pointedly ignoring Airlift, though there has been the occasional wary glance or two in the direction of Airlift's scythe. Blast Off is still missing his right wing (currently on backorder, though the wound is finally patched up now). The left one that Airlift sliced off has been repaired by Dustoff and is folded against his left leg, as it should be. Combat: Soundwave runs a diagnostic check on Blast Off [ Evaluation of Blast Off ] = Blast Off is conscious and COMBAT-OK. Blast Off is in perfect health. "You still goin' on about the wings? C'mon, Blast Off, it ain't like you can't get 'em back. Lighten up," Rumble exclaims. "Exactly! But noooo, we burn all our energon getting people to the fight, and then we miss out on the fun. Then they all get promoted for blasting up Autobots...." Soundwave pointedly looks towards Astrotrain's cab, waiting for him to finish. "THIS OP..." "Does anyone say 'Yo, Astrotrain, let's get YOU over to fight, we'll haul YOUR piston-driven perfection to fight for once." Soundwave pauses.... ..."THIS OPERATLook, Blast Off, trade places with me. It's all I'm saying." The Tape Commander pauses for a moment, then locks Astrotrain off of the comms channel for a bit. "THIS OPERATION SHALL LEAD TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE AUTOBOT FORCES." The picture of Cybertron fades, showing another smaller planet, with a network of strange satellites around it. "PLANET CANDIOS. UNINHABITED BY SAPIENT LIFE. RELICS OF A LONG AGO RACE STILL EXIST THERE, MANY OF THEM WORK OFF OF EXPANDO-TRONIUM..." He lets that delicious 80s term hang on the air as if everyone should know what it is. Oddly enough (or perhaps not), Rumble doesn't really seem to have much of a clue about this mission. "Okay, so what's the big deal about this expandotronium stuff?" <'Decepticon'> Soundwave has encrypted this channel. Sky Lynx has arrived. The form of the reaver in the corner is silent even still, and immobile to boot. The only hint that there's any activity in the mech is that his optics are glowing slightly. Perhaps it is a trick of the light inside of Astrotrain, or on the other hand maybe it's something else..but instead of the usual purple color, it almost looks like a reddish glow coming from where Airlift's head is hunched down towards his chest. Blast Off blinks and looks around, finally noticing Rumble. "Excuuuse me? I was speaking to Astrotrain regarding our shared difficulties having to deal with you /ingrates/ as passengers and our need for higher quality fuel. Wings had nothing to do with it. Though..." He pauses and stops to scratch an itch where his right wing should be. "...One certainly NEEDS two wings in order to fly and do one's job..." He grumbles, and glares over at Airlift again. Then back to listening to Astrotrain. "Yes! I *completely* understand, Astrotrain. You have no idea how pleasant it is to have a fellow shuttle to discuss such matters of vital importance with!" he nods enthusiastically- until the "trade places" part gets an uncomfortable one-wing elevon twitch. "Well.... um, perhaps some time... but..." He suddenly points down to his missing wing and quickly says, "No wing, can't do it, so sorry." He doesn't sound sorry. Then he is finally forced to notice Soundwave, as the tape commander shuts Astrotrain off. He blinks, looking slightly disappointed, then gazes at Soundwave. And listens. Sort of. Astrotrain pipes back up after being rudely locked out for a bit. "...I said we're here!" Soundwave raises his head, as Astrotrain's shuttle door opens. "EXPLANATIONS LATER. FOR NOW, WE MUST ACQUIRE ONE OF THESE SATELLITE ENGINES FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES." Outside: The planet Candios, just as seen in the holograms. A serene cloudy planet with the bright verdant colors that suggest a possibility of life here. It also features several square satellites that orbit around it. Anyone with many optical bands can see invisible lines of energy that surround the planet. Surely these satellites are powerful, if their actual use is unknown. After everybody exits, Astrotrain transforms as well, "Alright alright, let's just grab the Macguffin and go then...." He scowls as he waits behind the others. While the Cons might have been in a specific place for a specific purpose, they are not the only ones who happen to be in the area. Honestly...did they believe that they'd not run into someone from the Autobot Aerospace Division? So... which is it this time? Cosmos? Jetfire? Hahahaha...no. Sky Lynx is rocketing through space on his usual rove of 'Planets of Interest', sating his own desire for explorative knowledge and other such things, as well as to just make sure that there is a decent sense of non-interference on the part of other space bound races. Truly, that's it. He's like a one-man-Starship Enterprise in that regard... so when long-range sensors pick up the notably hostile purples near one such beacon, he's quick to direct his way towards them. << Attention unknown spacecraft, you are violating airspace deemed neutral according to the CEC's Exploratory and Non-Invasive Protocols, established by the- oh, who am I kidding... you smell like Decepticons. Clearly these concepts are well beyond you. State your business, and then kindly remove yourselves at once before I remove you by force. >> Sky Lynx transforms into an exquisitely designed transport shuttle. <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "..." <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "SKY LYNX HAS SUDDENLY ARRIVED IN THE SECTOR." Rumble frowns. "Let's hurry up an' get this MacGuyver, an' get outta here," he suggests. <'Decepticon'> Blitzwing says, "Meh, he ain't so tuff." Soundwave actually groans, picking up on the space transmission. He lowers his head, perhaps agreeing with Rumble. "WE MUST HURRY....BLAST OFF, AIRLIFT. DISTRACT SKY LYNX. ASTROTRAIN, ASSIST WITH THE DISMANTLING AND LOADING." He looks back to Rumble, then hesitates. He promptly turns his head, apparently finding ANY distraction worth not ordering his own to leap into THAT thing's mouth. He spaceflies slowly over to the first satellite, "REMOVE THESE METAL PLATES, THEY ARE BLOCKING SENSORS." Astrotrain looks from one spot to another. "I uh...I take back what I was saying earlier." He flies over towards Soundwave, taking Rumble's job away from him, ""Let me get that for you, I'm a lot stronger, it'll get done faster, right?" You send a radio message to Sky Lynx: THIS IS AN UNCOLONIZED PLANET. YOUR PROTOCOLS ARE INVALID HERE, WE ARE CLAIMING SALVAGE RIGHTS UPON PLANET CANDIOS. Moonracer has arrived. Blast Off gets out of his seat, making sure the cushions are neatly put back in orderly fashion. It's only the courteous thing to do, after all. Then he proceeds to head to the door with a final nod towards Astrotrain. The Combaticon remains in root mode as he exits, instead of transforming to shuttle mode as usual. But without his right wing, there's not much point. He can fly somewhat, but without his wings it's harder to maneuver well. But surely a quick flight in to grab this thing and get out again shouldn't be too difficult, right? ...Ha. Then Sky Lynx makes an appearance, and the Combaticon hesitates. Slag... this isn't a good time. Not with one wing. And then there was the whole "bite" business... and that was with TWO wings. ...Slag. The mention of the CEC gets another one of those twinges of... something ... that Blast Off works to stuff way down again. He locates the location of the nearest satellite, but waits to see what Soundwave's orders are before he actually ventures out to try and grab it. Ah. ...Great. Distract Sky Lynx. Lovely. Yeah, sure, Soundwave, stay over there where it's SAFE. Pffft. The Combaticon sighs, glaring over at Astrotrain as he runs off too. Pffft again. So that leaves... what now? A one winged Combaticon heads towards Sky Lynx's location... slowly. <> "You got it," Rumble says to Soundwave compliantly. When Astrotrain comes over, Rumble looks up at him with a sarcastic expression. "Uhm, how about no?" he says. "I'm plenty strong, 'Train, don't misunderestimate my talents." And sure enough, he's moving metal plates away from the satellite, plates that are larger than he is, with very little difficulty. He's like a little ant that carries many times its own weight with no problems at all. When Astrotrain begins to dump the Decepticon's out, there's still no response from Airlift. In fact, he drifts aimlessly out of the cargo area. At the alert of Autobot's incoming, he does finally come to life. His form stretches out and his massive black wings fold around his body again, making a form of cacoon that shrouds him entirely in darkness, making the Reaver simply a black stain against the starscape as he goes completely silent and immobile rather than participating in the fight to come. There's a laugh over the open radio-waves. << Honestly, Soundwave? Uninhabited, by the protocols, means a lack of life forms, organic, sentient, or otherwise. >> Yes, he'll let everyone hear this. << There are notable traces of carbon-based forms on this particular planet, and your salvage rights mean nothing. >> Lynx quickly beams a long-range hail on Autobot frequencies back to the main relays for such things as his engines rocket him towards the group. << Astrotrain? I thought you were busy laying tracks on Cybertron. >> He sighs audibly, turning his attention to Blast Off. << You shall retrieve nothing, Blast Off. You know better than this. Yet again, you disappoint me. >> The combaticon is regarded with a sense of... pity? Humor? Hard to say. He's a shuttle. "You appear to be missing a wing, there, chap." And...he's quite intent to blast by the broken shuttle-bot to intercept said satellite. Combat: You ain't no admin, sucka! <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "Are you expecting me to take on Sky Lynx alone, Soundwave? ...I mean, ...I CAN, of course, (Naturally!) but... uh, it might be helpful to have, oh, perhaps the triplechanger over here as well... ?" Astrotrain bahs, "Bah! Fine. You can't even space fly anyway, you little sprocket." He turns to face Sky Lynx's impending arrival, "Me, the Combaticon and the Reav....hey where'd the other guy go?" He readies his blaster, then transforms instead to join Blast Off, "You don't know who you're dealing with, Sky Lynx. We're going to leave you as a ring of scrap, so you can be a part of this here planet....PERMANENTLY!" He opens fire at the great Lynx from a distance with his powerful Heavy Laser. He....he didn't really think up a good name for his shuttle weapon. Soundwave, with Rumble, open up one of the reactor cores. Only a bare moment was needed, "IMPROPER ENERGY SIGNATURE." He looks over towards where the inevitable battle will be fought. "RUMBLE, WE WILL OVERLOAD THESE EXPOSED ENERGY CORES TO DETAIN SKY LYNX." He points to the next satellite over, "CONTINUE WITH THAT ONE. DO NOT DESTABILIZE THE CORE." Soundwave spaceflies over to the next one, close but not next to Rumble's... Speed is of the essence. <'Decepticon'> Astrotrain says, "Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Talk about getting what you ask for...in Spades!" "Right!" Rumble nods acknowledgement and spaceflies over to the designated satellite, working with some care to free the energy core without destabilizing it. "Hmph, sprocket," he mutters to himself as he works. "Let's see him call me a sprocket when it's Sink or Swim night at the Balloon..." Moonracer glances now and again at a series of monitors that have been relaying a direct feed from Sky Lynx's optics, all the while she busies herself with readying her trusty sniper rifle for unrestricted combat. Waving a hand across a cabinet, the receptacle opens itself and noiselessly dispenses a harness of sorts, complete with a large spool of industrial grade cable. The femme works her way into the backpack while striding over to the compartmentalized entry/exit module internal to the shuttle, ready to deploy into the empty vacuum beyond if and when necessary. Highly doubtful, of course, but she makes these preparations all the same. "Ready in cargo, Lynx. Just say the word." Blast Off makes a slight, smug sniff at Sky Lynx's response. <<....I have my orders. Surely you have better things to be doing, anyway? It is only a satellite... is this worth taking on all of US for?>> Astrotrain finally provides backup... not that Blast Off was *worried* or anything, mind you. "The Reaver has tucked tail and run away, Astrotrain, leaving the TRUE mechs... we space shuttles... to deal with Sky Lynx and get the job done. Yet another reason we ought to gain more respect AND better fuel." The Combaticon also gets his blaster out... though he seems to be keeping slightly *behind* Astrotrain at the moment. Blast Off turns back to Sky Lynx. "I had a little... accident. But fear not, I shall return to my normal magnificence shortly. In the meantime, I am afraid I shall have to send you some warning shots of my own, since you do not appear to be backing down." And he fires a few low-energy laser blasts at the Bot shuttle. Exquisite Space Shuttle - Sky Lynx cringes inwardly at the fire from Astrotrain. "Hah! You'll have to do better than that. I think burning all of that coal in your engine's spoiled your sting, there, Astrotrain." << Acknowledged. Stand by, Moonracer, this may happen a fair bit more swiftly than I am accustomed to. >> He snaps his nose up, detaching the lower-half of his ... Lynx, we'll call it, to send it gliding through the vacuum of space towards the satellite Soundwave had been working on. It impacts skillfully, overusing servos and a few other skills picked up along the way to mitigate damage caused by impact before turning to give a nice, 'get away from here' roar at Captain Radiohead as the personnel door opens to let Moonracer out. His other half is still sporting a nice scorch-mark from the laser-fire courtesy Astrotrain, but hardly noticing it as he wheels about on Blast Off. "That...actually tickled. As for it just being a satellite, do you not think it may be here for a purpose? Again, you disappoint me." The turrets mounted on either side of his dino-birdian neck rotate around to open fire back at the two shuttles. Sky Lynx transforms, his body separating into two. The top half retains his bird-like trademark shape, but his lower half sprouts a head and takes to the ground in Lynx form. ****DECEPTICON SPINNY**** The camera goes from Soundwave, past Rumble, clinging to another satellite as time stops for a moment, then picks up behind Astrotrain in flight. "Oh stop it, you're just embarassing yourself! Alright then..." He shifts mode back to his root form, then raises his Ionic Rifle, and cracks off a shattering shot at the Sky part of the Lynx. "Put THIS in your Afterburner and exhaust it!" As fortune has it, Rumble starts doing his Wreck-It Rumble routine, exposing the energy core, which reveals itself as a bright purple hue of particles flowing around in a neverending circle! Even as Soundwave does his best to open the second one, which takes a little longer admittedly due to the distance, he recognizes the particle transmission, then turns...and sees a giant space lynx bearing down on him. If his optics could grow in shock, they'd do so now. He does have a few moments warning, enough to attempt to bail before impact! Soundwave flexes his legs as he starts to jump, but the Lynx collides with the satellite early, catching the Tape Commander with a glancing blow, which sends him spinning. <> Rumble seems torn between going after Soundwave and leaving the energy source, but there seems to be an unspoken premium placed on this energy source, and Rumble does realize that if he leaves it there, it's open to interference from Sky Lynx. So he remains guarding the energy source while Soundwave calls Astrotrain back over. He's got both laser-rifles drawn, and his tiny face looks quite mean. Blast Off huffs again at Sky Lynx. "It's original purpose no longer matters. /We/ need it now." For... something. Slag knows what, and he doesn't really care. Either way. But he's got direct orders, and Soundwave's right there, so... he begins to aim for another laser blast when Sky Lynx strafes the area with some of his own. Missing wing or not, the Combaticon is still pretty dodgy, and is able to engage the thrusters on his feet and rocket out of the way just in time. When Sky Lynx splits and Astrotrain is called back, the Combaticon follows. He spots Moonracer emerge as well, and levels off to fire a shot at her, then at Sky Lynx. "Moonracer... I believe I've heard you're supposed to be some kind of sniper? You might even be a little good, who knows... but you'll never compare to me." <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "ASTROTRAIN" <'Decepticon'> Astrotrain says, "Yeah yeah yeah. I'm going to put a few holes in Sky Lynx first." <'Decepticon'> Soundwave says, "YOU ARE ORDERED TO RETURN...NOW!" <'Decepticon'> Astrotrain grumbles. <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "Like I was saying.... no respect for shuttles. Am I right, Astrotrain? Really, we should get more recognition for all we do...." <'Decepticon'> Drag Strip says, "Nobody gets respect for whining about every thing and getting shot every other day. Nice try, though." <'Decepticon'> Rumble says, "C'mon A-Train, no one's gettin' disrespectified here! Same with you Blast Off. This here's important, or else we wouldn't be doin' it!" The giant blast door lining Sky Lynx's now-severed 'body' (yeah, he's a weird one) shudders open with a rip of air being obliterated by the inky black of outer space, and Moonracer is glad she secured the tow-hook-esque end of her backpack's cable spool before exposing herself to the same fate. In the weightlessness of her environment, Moonracer vaults out of the cabin and quickly unslings her rifle. Using her momentum to wheel about, Moonracer comes around just in time to duck enough to equivocate a pair of deadly laser blasts tossed her way. In response, the femme quickly draws a bead immediately on the source of the shots - Blast Off - and pops off a retaliatory round. "We'll let history be the judge of that, clown." <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "Drag Strip, don't you have some groundpounder business to attend to? Losing a race, or something?" <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "I suppose... Rumble." <'Decepticon'> Astrotrain says, "Heh...Rumble's a groundpounder." <'Decepticon'> Drag Strip says, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that over the utter amazing track record I have in comparison to you. Would you kindly repeat that after you've done anything useful?" The Bird watches Moonracer's egress, and Soundwave's apparent EVA, before whipping around to catch the blast from Astrotrain... and for a reason. He doesn't want an errant bolt lancing a satellite, or Moonracer, for that matter. Fortunately, the void of space stifles any potential burns that might result from the armor getting scored, and he charges in headlong to straight up divebomb the triple-changer. Meanwhile, the Lynx waits for Moonracer to stabilize her own EVA before...well, anchoring himself. He's a giant cat, not a space-shuttle. What did you expect? <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "True. Not everyone can be as magnificent as we are. But Rumble does try, at least. ....How about 3 Gold Medals from the Olympics, Drag Strip? Including Sharpshooting..." <'Decepticon'> Rumble says, "Well...uh...yeah. So?! That's my job!" <'Decepticon'> Drag Strip is snoring at this point. <'Decepticon'> Buzzsaw says, "Blast Off, please stand by for a personal message recorded for you. http://youtu.be/mYKWch_MNY0" Soundwave recovers enough to correct himself in freefall. He has a couple of terse words for Astrotrain, before moving over to assist Rumble. "GOOD WORK." He intones, before hitting a few buttons to power down the generator, which makes the most soothing noise as it goes. "RUMBLE...DESTROY THAT SATELLITE." Soundwave points at the Lynx half, and that sparkling white power source he's clutched upon. That ought to even the score a bit. "****DECEPTICON SPINNY**** Astrotrain cracks off another shot as Sky Lynx closes, "Hah, now you're half the mech you used to be." Before The Bird can get too close, he flips over, quickly returning to shuttle mode, his engines roaring, even as Sky Lynx collides with Astrotrain's rear section, "Better make this fast, I feel like I've got a bad case of Scraplets!" His vector takes him in towards Soundwave. <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "That... that song is... perfect! Someone actually understands!!!!!! Who is this? Some Decepticon space shuttle?" <'Decepticon'> Buzzsaw says, "Earth-bound fleshbag. Congratulations." <'Decepticon'> Blast Off sounds shocked and dismayed. "WHAT?" No, that's not... it's not even possible. He must have just found a Cybertronian song and stolen it or something......" Destroy something?? Oh, Rumble gets right on that. He grins nastily, as he pushes away to put some float distance between himself and the satellite, and then opens fire on it with both of his little laser-rifles. "About time we got to the GOOD part!" <'Decepticon'> Blitzwing says, "You guys could start your own support group: Shuttles Anonymous." <'Decepticon'> Blast Off says, "Why aren't YOU here, helping your fellow triplechanger?" <'Decepticon'> Astrotrain says, "Hey! Is that Blitz? You're not dead anymore? About time." Deep Space - Paraplanar(#1557RntN) - Milky Way This part of space is like most the others; there are no outstanding nebulae, no particularly bright or oddly colored stars nearby, no odd astronomical phenomenom. Only stars, and more stars, and more stars. Far, far away are the swirled disks that mark distant elliptical and spiral galaxies, so far away that it would take millions of years to reach even at FTL speeds. Closer by are a scattering of star clusters. Contents: Moonracer Dino Bird and Lynx Blast Off Rumble Alumina Candios Colduarr Red Planet Obvious exits: Spinward leads to Deep Space - Paraplanar. Below Plane leads to Deep Space - Galactic Plane. Driftward leads to Deep Space - Paraplanar. Rimward leads to Eridani X. Blast Off is just finishing the shot at Sky Lynx as he notices Moonracer aiming...but there's no way she'd hit hi-BAM! The Combaticon DOES get hit, and is sent spinning back in the absence of gravity until his rockets have to engage and stablize him again. He glares at her. "Lucky shot, I'm sure...." And aims his blaster at her. "But not TOO bad, I suppose. But you want REAL skill and pinpoint accuracy? Let me show you how it's done!" Blast Off moves with the completion of his last spin, firing at Moonracer, then turning to look at the other two shuttles. Astrotrain's mention of "scraplets" gets a possibly nervous glance and Blast Off can be seen edging just slightly away from him. "Let us remain civilized here, we are all shuttles after all..." He looks at Sky Lynx. "...Which in your case, given how outnumbered you are... would be to call it a day and leave. It's rude to overstay one's welcome, after all." If there's one thing a smart Decepticon would never do (which are admittedly far and few between), it's allow a Dinobird to get ahold of your aft-end. The bolt sent his way scores down his nosecone and dangerously close to that optical visor, sending bits of plating flying off into space to disintegrate, but is relatively ignored. He's got work to do... Claws and teeth alike work at anchoring and rending their way through the engine housings exposed to him so he can start clawing his way up along Astrotrain's fuselage... << Daresay, giving me the chance to cripple your trip home? How sporting of you, Astrotrain. >> The Lynx, half is busy watching the battle, keeping tabs on a Blast Off, on Soundwave, on Moonracer... and then there's Rumble. He barely manages to connect the dots as far as the satellite goes before severing the cable tying Moonracer to his passenger-bay and shoving downward on the satellite to try and jump-push it away from both himself (not the most likely to happen fast enough)...or, more importantly, the other Autobot who is currently floating precariously in space. << Surrender? I know not how to use the word, only receive it's utterances, Blast Off. >> With that single engine shut down, other satellites around Candios start to flicker, their power stations flare, showing a network of beams that surround the planet....and then fade away. On the planet's surface, a threeheaded lizarddog raises its head as the ground starts to shake.... Astrotrain yelps in surprise and pain, "Ugh, okay this is really getting on my nerves!" He fishtails in a most improper way for spaceflight, attempting to shake off The Bird! After a few moments, he tilts just the right way to try to slam Bird into one of these explosive satellites. It would be messy, but well...better that than being savaged. His sidepanel opens up, "Soundwave, a hand here!" The Tape Commander is already on it, as if the two shared a brain or something. He stays out of Rumble's line of fire, which causes the satellite the Lynx has perched on to start overloading! In a deft, smooth motion the energy core the Decepticons were seeking, ends up smacking inside Astrotrain's cargo hold. Moonracer receives quick reciprocation for putting a round into Blast Off, and she grimaces through the burn as the lasers fade out in her armor, leaving melted craters along her frame. "Lucky and sniper in the same sentence? You know as well as I do that those two words never belong together... which means, you must be feeling threatened, eh? Heh. Well I sure don't mind proving to you who's just the better marksmech, o' course!" Moonracer cycles her pulse rifle and readies another round, which she quickly delivers down range. Moonracer might want to get some distance as well, as the satellite starts to spark, sending electrical current out, arcing onto other nearby satellites...and Astrotrain and the Bird too, anything within a set proximity. It crackles, sending tendrils of current around itself and the Lynx, then instead of exploding just seems to disintegrate into a ball of electricity. Rumble doesn't stop firing on the doomed satellite until both his rifles are completely out of charges. Even then, he clicks them a few times for effect. "Smell ya later, rustcan," he tells Lynx with a smirk, then lets his own floating momentum take him within boarding range of Astrotrain. <'Decepticon'> Blitzwing says, "Thanks. Likewise." Dino Bird and Lynx is getting blasted, slung, and tossed every which way from Tuesday. Fortunate for Moonracer, getting tossed into the satellites (and probably his other half) propels them further away from her, as well as provides a bit of a buffer. It's the electrical overload, though, that runs a number on his systems. With Astrotrain's weapon having chewed up some armor in more than a few places, the electrical currents charging through him to render him immobile. Those lucky cons... Blast Off winces internally as Sky Lynx grabs hold of Astrotrain and starts shredding him a new one. Thruster, I mean. He has to refrain from placing a hand where his own bite marks were. "This is all... *so* uncivilized...." He shakes his head and is about to shoot at Sky Lynx again when there's another shot from Moonracer- which again connects. The pulse tears through the top of his shoulder, sending him into another spin. He again stops himself and turns to face her, ready to shoot back. But there's a quick glance over towards Astrotrain as it appears their mission may be ending soon. That's when he sees the setellite about to go. The Combaticon starts to get out of the way as fast as he can... but unfortunately, he can't transform into his faster shuttle mode and it costs him. The electricity connects and courses through him, too, leaving a trail of smoke and an acrid smell. The shuttleformer jerks back, and like Sky Lynx is in no condition to fire a shot at the moment. Instead, he starts thinking about getting to Astrotrain and begins edging backwards. "You... you and I, Moonracer. We shall meet again, and I shall prove to you just who should feel threatened. Here's a hint, though- it's not ME." Meanwhile, he tries to steady his blaster. Astrotrain curses as he hits the thrusters, he's damaged. You can tell that because he's not using any coloring in his text. "Are we done here? That mechanical monster just tried to rip off one of my engines!" Soundwave snags ahold of Rumble, hauling him inside, the big satellite generator on the far end of the cargo hold, and within moments the team can reassemble. As the planet below already shows signs of instability, some of its satellites damaged, and one vital one held hostage. The question becomes this....What will the Autobots do? Will they save a planet that holds no sapient life on the possibility that it might? or perhaps it may end up being a new colony for them? What happened here? And as Astrotrain roars off, the big triplechanger asks a similar question. "So whats this thing do anyway?" Soundwave examines the generator, then curiously places a bolt up against it. The bolt shudders then grows in his hands to ten times its previous size. "IT...GIVES US THE WORLD, ASTROTRAIN. IT GIVES US THE WORLD." As the music shifts, with Astrotrain sputtering off into the darkness, he questions, "Whats that supposed to mean?" ***** *** * * * * * * *** *** **** * * *** * * * * *** * * *** *** ** * * ** * **